“I don’t see any application to this year’s game (from that game’s result),” Brandner said. “I don’t think half the guys on the team (now) were here back then.”

By the next afternoon, the Atlantic Coast Conference had punished the officiating crew and announced that the end-of-game had been mismanaged. The result, though, stood.

“After that game, it wasn't anger,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. “Well, it was gotten wrong and the conference announced that, but you couldn't change anything.”

However, the coach didn’t have an explanation to share with an important group.

“The most difficult part was the walking in the locker room and looking at a bunch of crushed young people that I didn't have an answer for,” he said. “That probably will live with me forever.

“But did I ever dwell on that game? We won games before we were probably fortunate to win. Not probably, we have. We've lost some other games that we maybe should have won. So as a coach, and particularly a veteran coach, you learn to put those things in the proper perspective and the proper place.”

This week, Miami’s athletics website refers to that game as the “Miracle in Durham.”

Duke senior center Austin Davis said the Blue Devils ended up recovering that season and posting the program’s only bowl victory in a generation — despite what happened on the last night in October.

“It’s a situation that you don’t ever see in college football,” Davis said. “It felt like a punch to the gut. But we put that to bed a while ago.”

So Cutcliffe said this isn’t a revenge situation Friday night because the stakes are high for this year’s undefeated teams.

“We’ve got an opportunity to win our fifth game in our fifth game,” Cutcliffe said. “That’s a lot more exciting than trying to win No. 1 or No. 2.”

Still, there’s a sense that something could be lingering.

“I feel we owe them one,” Gilbert said.

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Kickoff

Who: No. 14 Miami (2-0, 0-0) at Duke (4-0, 1-0)

When: 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN)

Where: Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham,

Series: Miami leads 12-2, including three victories in a row

Extra points …

This is Duke’s ACC home opener. … Duke is aiming to be 5-0 for the first time since 1994. … Miami is 11-1 against Duke since joining the ACC. … Duke is 28-137-6 all-time against nationally ranked opponents. … The Blue Devils have defeated at least one ranked opponent in each of the past four seasons. … Duke senior running back Shaun Wilson is approaching a milestone with 1,994 career rushing yards. … With 24 receptions this season, Duke receiver T.J. Rahming has twice as many catches as any other member of the team.